Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin: Poster Boy of the Republican Party

To anyone who thinks that Sen. Todd Akin's comments and attitudes are an aberration, and not an integral part of what most Republicans these days believe (e.g., note that several Virginia Republicans have cosponsored heinously anti-women legislation with Akin), I have an offer of a bridge in some lovely swamp land to sell you! LOL

Friend —

In a year that has brought us no shortage of stunningly backward statements from Republicans on issues affecting women's health, the GOP Senate nominee from Missouri may have just taken the cake.

This morning, Rep. Todd Akin, explaining his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape, said that victims of “legitimate rape” don't get pregnant because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

What exactly, Rep. Akin, is an “illegitimate” rape? And what are these unnamed “ways” women have of avoiding pregnancy after being (legitimately) raped?

Now, Akin's choice of words isn't the real issue here. The real issue is a Republican party — led by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan — whose policies on women and their health are dangerously wrong.

Mitt Romney famously says he would “get rid of” federal funding for Planned Parenthood if he had the chance. His running mate, Paul Ryan, was one of more than 200 Republican cosponsors of a piece of legislation that would have narrowed the definition of rape.

Can you imagine — the same Republican House that refuses to pass a jobs bill jumped at the opportunity to make life harder for victims of rape?

And what do Romney and Ryan think of Akin's latest statement? They've been trying to distance themselves from it — but Congressman Ryan has already partnered with Akin on a whole host of issues that restrict women's ability to make their own health care decisions.

This kind of “leadership” is dangerously wrong for women — and I can't sit by and watch as these out of touch Republicans like Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and Todd Akin continue to roll back women's rights.

It's time for us to move forward — not back — on women's rights. Take a stand for women now: